One time too many
by GirlFromNorth
Summary: Twenty years before the Quest Halbarad of the Dunedaín has a dream, a vision. And a very important question is asked him: How far would he go to save Aragorn?


**Since Halbarad has managed to become one of my favorite characters, it's my duty to torture him a bit *cough*. Aragorn and Halbarad: two lovely rangers ;). At first this fanfiction was going to be a one-shot, but I decided to split it into two or three chapters instead.**

**For some reason I enjoyed writing this, so I would be very glad if you tell me what you think :). And the happy ending here? Well... we'll see about that...**

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_Pelennor field was filled with Death. Bodies lay littered all over the ground, every single blade of grass was stained dark by blood. No more war-cries were heard: only the pained cries of the wounded and anguish shouts of denial from the men finding dead comrades. _

_But Halbarad saw none of that. He didn't see smoke rising from Minas-Tirith, the last orcs being slain nor the men dying around him. Too caught up in his own grief and despair, he only had eyes for the man in his arms. Aragorn's breath came in short, shuddering gasps and his face was sickly pale. His dark hair was sweaty and dusty and lay plastered against his face. _

_But the eyes! Eyes that always had held hope shining in the pools of silver grey as sharp as an eagles piercing gaze, were now unfocused and glazed over in pain. It felt like a dagger had been ran straight through Halbarad's heart to see his friend and chieftain in such state._

_Numerous cuts and open wounds marred Aragorn's body, yet Halbarad's attention was on the black arrow that had pierced the ranger's chest. He didn't have to take a closer look to know that the arrow was poisoned and it made his blood freeze. Halbarad could hear himself shout Aragorn's name, calling out for help to the other men –_anyone!-_ but his voice was lost in the grave of dying and screaming men._

"_H-hal", Aragorn's raspy voice whispered. "Halbarad…?"_

"_I'm here", Halbarad reassured although tears burned in his eyes. _

"_Halbarad", Aragorn repeated and blinked in several attempts to force his eyes to focus on his kinsman. "S-so dark… I can feel the poison, the darkness. It's taking me…"_

"_Hush", Halbarad cut of, not able to force any words past the lump in his throat. _

"_No light 'ere", Aragorn murmured. Then he seemed to notice Halbarad's crushing grief and a small, small smile touched his lips. "I guess this was… one time to many?" he rasped, an old joke between two friends after a near fatal mission in the Wilds. Halbarad could find no joy and he clung to Aragorn as he felt his friend's life seeping out from him. "She's safe. Gone", Aragorn whispered and suddenly he begun to cough. A small trickle of blood made its way from the corner of his mouth. "Arwen…" he breathed and though Halbarad waited, no other breath left Aragorn's body. _

"_No", Halbarad gasped. "Sweet Eru, _no_!" Aragorn's eyes stared blindly up to the sky, as though seeking the stars hidden behind the thick clouds. His chest didn't move and Halbarad shakily lowered his head to rest above Aragorn's heart. Nothing. No steady beats came from the noble heart, and never would it again. _

_Halbarad cried out in denial and rocked his cousin's body back and forth. He held on tightly, afraid that the last prove that Aragorn had ever existed would disappear if he let go. How could Valar be so cruel to a man who had suffered all his life, yet never given up hope while fighting and protecting people who only spat at his feet in return? How could they let him die when he was so close to his goal? At the fields of Minas Tirith, the city he had grown to love while serving there under the name Thorongil. And even if Sauron still was left behind the Black Gates, the Men had _won_! The enemy hadn't managed to win over Gondor, Rohan and the men who came from Dunedaín: the Free People of Middle-earth had defeated Sauron's army here. But now, there was no hope. Hope was dead._

_And somehow, Halbarad knew it wasn't Aragorn's fate to die here. _You've killed the wrong man_, he wanted to scream to Valar, Elbereth or any mighty power who could have heard him. But when had any of his prayers or hopes ever been answered? _

_He held Aragorn's body until he could feel the body growing cold and stiff, yet he couldn't afford to loose his grip. Whatever would happen now? The people of Middle-Earth stood without leader, without Hope, and now there was nothing –nobody- that could lead the Men to victory. It was lost. _

_Suddenly a chill blew over Halbarad and he gasped from the sheer evil that threatened to drown him. His limbs seemed to grow slack and someone begun to pull at Aragorn's body._

"_**Elessar…**" a terrible voice thundered and yet seemed to whisper. The Black, forbidden language of Mordor suddenly filled the air and a great, burning Eye appeared in front of him._

"_No! You will not take him", Halbarad shouted as the body of his cousin was torn from his arms. But the Dark lord, Sauron himself only laughed at his struggles and his foul creatures' hands held Halbarad in one place. _

"_There is no hope for Men", Sauron spoke again with gleeful voice and to Halbarad's horror he could see Aragorn's once strong body destroyed by Darkness. Halbarad was being pulled away from his King, all the while struggling. The last thing he saw of him was Aragorn's soul being ripped from him to be broken in the Dark Land._

"_No!" Halbarad screamed again and flung his fists at the monsters around him._

"Halbarad!_"_

"_Let him be!" he kept shouting and kicked furiously. Someone grabbed at his wrists and with a snarl Halbarad hit his attacker straight in the face. He had little time to relish in the satisfying hiss of pain from the creature. _

"Halbarad!_"_

_He could almost hear someone shout his name but he couldn't stop to look around: he had to get back to Aragorn, but Sauron's creatures were still at him-_

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"Halbarad!"

A hard slap to the face brought him back to the living word. Halbarad gasped loudly and his eyes darted quickly around him. He was at a camp. Stars were shining above him and a small fire burned to his left while trees were towering up over him. He was in the middle of a forest.

Uncomfortable weight pressed down at his wrists and one leg: someone was holding him down. He flinched away and prepared to defend himself before he managed to focus on the face. Messy, dark hair that hung in the glittering grey eyes, the stubble on the chin, the sharp jaw… Halbarad's eyes drifted downwards and caught side of a familiar necklace: the evenstar.

"Aragorn", Halbarad finally exclaimed and, despite being currently pinned to the ground, shot up and pulled his cousin in a bear hug. Aragorn hissed and Halbarad could feel surprise and unease from him. After a startled second he awkwardly patted Halbarad's back.

All too well aware of his unusual behavior Halbarad pulled away in embarrassment but couldn't stop his hand from lingering on Aragorn's shoulder.

"Sorry", he muttered and turned away for a moment. He could feel the younger man's eyes on him and clenched his teeth.

"Are you alright?" Aragorn asked carefully and Halbarad waited before turning back his head.

"I'm fine", he said evenly and looked at his shaking hands. "It was just a dream."

"A very bad nightmare then, judging by the way you acted." Halbarad looked up again and only then spotted the dark bruise forming above Aragorn's right eye and his spitted lip. Halbarad winced when he realized what the "creatures" he had fought against really was. He didn't answer and instead sat up straighter.

"Get some rest, Aragorn", he said instead. "I will take the watch."

Aragorn didn't move. Then, after a while he continued softly, "Was it a vision?"

Halbarad gripped the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white. A vision? Oh how he hoped it wasn't one. He cast another look at Aragorn's face: it was younger than it had been in the dream: if it indeed was a vision it would be several years before it came true.

"Go to sleep", Halbarad said again, keeping his voice flat and emotionless. "I'll wake you in a few hours: we both need sleep for tomorrow." Aragorn simply kept looking at him with eyes that were unreadable, like that of an eagle's –

Halbarad mentally smacked himself and he turned his back to the fire and spied out in the night. _Eagle of the Star_ had Aragorn called himself in Rohan and Gondor, in Minas Tirith where Halbarad's… dream had been.

"Very well", he heard Aragorn's soft voice behind him and the rustles of his cloak when he lay down. Halbarad waited tensely and listened to the sound of Aragorn's breathing. Only when it slowed down in sleep Halbarad allowed himself to relax and his shoulders slumped. He groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

Aragorn had a way to mean more with a few words, and it had taken Halbarad several years to understand his cousin's cryptic words. And he knew that Aragorn only agreed to rest now instead of staying up with Halbarad to give him time to think of his dream. The Dunedaín were gifted with foresight: some more than others, and Halbarad had never really had any visions. _Dreams_, yes, but they had never been proved to mean something. But this dream was different. It was too livid, too terrific, too _real_.

But what could he do? Tell Aragorn to stay away from Minas Tirith? He would never listen, besides it was his destiny to become a king, or at least fight for his city. _Destiny_. How Halbarad hated that word. Was it destiny that had doomed Middle-Earth to burn and be corrupted by Darkness?

He looked up at the sky, trying to find hope in the stars as Aragorn did. He tried to find Gil-Estel, but he wasn't trained in astronomy and the stars did nothing but mock him. They could twinkle up there, safe in the sky without having to fear or care about such pitiful things as humans or dwarves or even hobbits. The elves could flee over the oceans and easily forget about the mortals that were left to be slaughtered in Arda.

Halbarad sat there for a long time: his fingers and toes went numb and the fire sank closer and closer to the ground, yet he didn't move. Was it the fate of Men to die and Darkness to rule? He didn't know anymore.

A hand on his shoulder shook him from his dark musings. He startled and looked up to see Aragorn standing beside him.

"You were supposed to wake me", he chided and Halbarad stood up.

"Maybe", he answered hoarsely and cleared his throat. Aragorn studied him before nodding and he went to gather his pack and hiding the traces of their camp. Halbarad shouldered his own pack and grimaced at the stiffness in his body.

"It tends to be the result after spending a night sitting unmoving on hard rock", Aragorn said smoothly and gave him a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. Halbarad forced a fake smile of his own and they begun their walk.

Aragorn gave small hints from time to time, an offer to listen to Halbarad's dream. But he couldn't talk about it. Not here, not now. He wasn't sure if he ever would tell Aragorn of what he had seen.

Perhaps… Perhaps there was a way to change it? Halbarad sighed in weariness causing Aragorn to cast a look at him. It was impossible to change a decision of the Valar.

_Would you save him?_

Halbarad jerked and swung around his head. There was no one around.

_What would you do to save him?_

The voice… It came from his head, didn't it? And it whispered again,

_Would you save him?_

"Of course I would", Halbarad snapped and immediately regretted it. Aragorn looked back at him and frowned.

"Pardon?"

"I… Nothing", he stammered and directed his gaze forward.

"Halbarad…"

"I'm perfectly fine", Halbarad cut off and Aragorn slowly raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't say you're not."

"You thought it."

Aragorn chuckled. "I might have. And I have a 'perfectly fine' reason to believe you're not, too."

"Oh really", Halbarad muttered dryly as he ducked under a tree branch.

"Visions can be quite… upsetting", Aragorn prompted calmly.

Halbarad didn't answer this time either. "I just need to get home to The Angle", he replied.

"Ah", Aragorn suddenly smirked again. "Somebody' been gone for too long from his wife?" Halbarad felt the urge to throw something at him but settled with smacking Aragorn over the back of his head.

"Shut up."

They both chuckled and Aragorn bowed his head slightly, and even that Halbarad could detect as a _Talk to me when you're ready_ sign.

_Would you save him?_

Yes, Halbarad thought grimly as he watched his cousin named Hope in the corner of his eye.

Yes I would.

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**The name of this fanfic was briefly mentioned in this chapter, and so will it in the next one. So please leave a review, and if you liked it look for the next chapter. :)**


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